The 10,000 Reasons Challenge

I wanted to share this with you,

This Lenten challenge that is rocking my world.

You can read about it here and here.

If you'd like to participate, here are the basic guidelines: 

"[H]ere's my Lenten goal,

Not really a fast, but a refocusing:

• To count a minimum of 10 reasons - 10 God-centric reasons - each and every day during this season to worship God, including (but not necessarily limited to) aspects of His character and displays of His power.
• To find one Scripture reference for each reason so that I know I'm not just making this up, making sure that the Scripture supports the reason when taken in context.
• To let this exercise bring me closer to God, that I might know Him better and know Him for who He is, that I might worship the God of the Bible, not some idol I've formed in my mind through the things I've heard and my own misconceptions."

 

"The Heart of Worship"

When the music fades
And all is stripped away
And I simply come . . .

I love music.

If you know anything about me, you probably know that.

It's my passion.

Of course, even greater than my passion for music

Is my passion for God.

(Well, most of the time.  I'm far from perfect, after all.)

I really enjoy listening to sermons,

Spending time in the Word,

But none of that reaches my heart in the same way that music does.

90% of the songs I sing,

Both the ones that I write and the ones that I don't,

Are about God,

And I sing them straight to Him.

It's how I feel closest to Him,

What moves my heart more than anything else.

I think it's different for everyone,

God made us all to "speak different languages",

To connect with different things,

Know Him best in different ways.

To me, worship is the best part of any church service.

Writing and singing music is the highest form of prayer.

(Not in some deep, theological way.  It's just what makes me feel closest to God.)

Sometimes, though, I get so distracted in worship.

Where I go to church with my friends, cameras film live video,

Project the images up on the screen,

Hands lifted in praise.

My selfish heart is instantly distracted.

"Is that me?

Am I up there?"

It drives

Me

Nuts.

I just want to worship,

Focus on God and get me out of the way.

Why does it have to be so complicated?

I remember how awhile ago,

Someone told me to look up the story behind one of my favorite worship songs,

"The Heart of Worship" by Matt Redman.

Here's an excerpt from this article:

The song dates back to the late 1990s, born from a period of apathy within Matt’s home church, Soul Survivor, in Watford, England. Despite the country’s overall contribution to the current worship revival, Redman’s congregation was struggling to find meaning in its musical outpouring at the time.

“There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing,” he recalls. “He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away.”

Reminding his church family to be producers in worship, not just consumers, the pastor, Mike Pilavachi, asked, “When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?”

Matt says the question initially led to some embarrassing silence, but eventually people broke into a cappella songs and heartfelt prayers, encountering God in a fresh way.

“Before long, we reintroduced the musicians and sound system, as we’d gained a new perspective that worship is all about Jesus, and He commands a response in the depths of our souls no matter what the circumstance and setting. ‘The Heart of Worship’ simply describes what occurred.”

That's where the song comes from.

The lyrics show it, too,

This incredible story: 

When the music fades
And all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless your heart.

I'll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required.
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear.
You're looking into my heart.

After the worship,

After the sermon,

After we'd all stood and talked for half an hour,

One of my friends sat down on the edge of the stage,

Picked up a guitar,

Started strumming,

Singing.

I heard him from across the room . . .

"Swing low, sweet chariot,
Comin' for to carry me home."

I wanted to go over right then,

Stumbled on my words trying to explain to the people I was talking to.


"I'm going to go . . . sing . . . sorry."

I ran over,

Sat down next to him,

Joined in,

Sang some harmony.

"Swing low, sweet chariot,
Comin' for to carry me home."

Pretty soon, another came over,

Sat on the other side of him,

Then someone sat next to me,

Someone else pulled up a chair,

Another sat on the floor.

Before long, there were about ten of us,

Ten voices and a guitar,

Singing,

Worshiping.

He asked me if I wanted to pick a song.

I flipped through pages of chord sheets,

Found the one I wanted,

Asked if he could play it,

If he knew the chords.

He knew most of them,

Modified a couple slightly,

And we were all singing it there,

Just our voices and a guitar,

No fancy equipment,

None of the typical trappings,

Just us, before God, with nothing to give Him but our hearts:

I'm coming back to the heart of worship,
And it's all about You,
All about You, Jesus.
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You,
It's all about You, Jesus.

The song "The Heart of Worship" is written by Matt Redman and preformed by him and numerous other artists.  Many thanks to all of them for delivering this incredible message to so many hearts, including mine.


 

Hanna Prayer request

Pray for me to trust the Lord more and to spend more time with Him.

God is good

Hey ladies! How is everyones week going? Hope its going wonderful. I just wanted to encourage you guys to be checking this blog and putting whatever on it. Prayer requests or what you are learning or anything. I just want you guys to know that you are loved and that you didn't have to do anything to be loved. God loves you so much. You are His. Don't ever take your eyes off Him even if only for a moment. He is a good Father. Turn to Him. I love you all!!!!!

Faith is Not a T-Shirt

I just wanted to share these words with you today -

A rough draft, really -

Of a chance to reexamine -

A chance for me to reexamine -

What faith really is,

What faith really means,

Whether it is what we wear,

The fact that we go to church once or twice a week,

The fact that we try to be good people,

Or whether all that is an overflow,

Coming from a heart head-over-heels in love,

A heart in relationship with the Creator of the Universe.

I need to ask myself if that's where my heart is,

Because if I'm not asking,

Not examining,

Not checking,

Not questioning,

Then the state of my heart,

The state of my relationship with God,

Is obviously not the priority it should be -

And how often I fail at this!

So this is for asking questions -

And we should never be afraid to ask these kinds of questions -

And this I'm singing to myself,

Always singing to myself.

T-Shirt

You can wear the Christian t-shirt,
Call yourself by that word,
But, if those trappings were stripped away,
What would remain?

You can attend church faithfully,
Read your Bible regularly,
But if it's only in your brain
Or if the world sweeps it away,
Then where's the change?

I could spend all day in my garage and not become a car,
I could spend my life staring at the sky and not become a star,
So, if the trappings and our actions cannot make us who we are,
Maybe it's the heart,
Maybe it's our hearts.

Where is your heart?

Is it caught up in religion, doing such hard work
To try to measure up to Perfection's standards?
Does that give you the salvation that you need?
Does it set you free?

Where is your heart?

Is it in intimate relationship with your Creator King,
Is He the reason why you breathe,
The very reason for your being?

Is He the reason why I breathe,
Is He the reason why I sing?

Do you believe it in your heart,
With everything you are?
Does that bring the change you need,
Does it set you free?

Are your good works an overflow
Of a loved, forgiven soul?
Is every step that you take
To give Him glory, bring Him praise?

Was there a change?
Is there a change?
Are you changed,
Remade?

Can we not look at the t-shirts or the bracelets
To show us what a faithful person is?
Can we find a better place to start?
Can we look into our hearts?

'Cause faith is not a t-shirt,
Faith is not a t-shirt,
Faith is not a t-shirt.

Faith is not a t-shirt,
Faith is not a t-shirt,
Faith is not a t-shirt.


Faith is not a t-shirt,
Faith is not a t-shirt,
Faith is not a t-shirt.

Oh, I need to hear that over and over and over again. 

It's not a t-shirt,

It's not the words I say,

Or even the prayers I pray,

It's what's in my heart,

Because I don't want religion,

I want relationship.


Where is my heart?

Bold, italicized words ©2012 Mary Schieferstein

The Words Every Woman Needs to Hear

Spending time with my siblings,

Watching VeggieTales,

You know, those cute, funny shows

That taught all the beautiful lessons,

Reminding us every time

That God made us special

And He loves us very much.

We decided to watch Sweetpea Beauty,

Which starts out with a cute little tale called "Snoodlerella".

It was so beautiful!

You need to see this today,

To hear the words spoken to her (08:45),

The words spoken to every one of us,

The words every woman needs to hear.

I hope this blesses you today like it blessed me!

You are treasured.

You are loved.


  

Yeah! Group blog!

Sweet guys! I am so glad this worked! Mary this looks great!!!!!!!! Thank you so much!

Coming Alive

I chose as the original title of this blog, "Coming Alive".

I don't know if that will always be the title.

After all, I'm not in charge of the Bible study that started this.

I just volunteered to help set up the blog.

I don't even know why I thought that should be the title, exactly.

I just know that it seemed appropriate.

We are a people coming alive,

Being brought to life by Him.

I heard a sermon on this recently.

Just a couple of weeks ago, actually.

I was fortunate enough to attend Passion 2012 in Atlanta, GA.

The experience was amazing, beyond description -

Just worshiping God every moment of every day!

(Sorry.  I got a little sidetracked.  Back to the sermon.)

So, while I was there,

The first night, actually,

Louie Giglio preached on a particular passage of Scripture.

I put the reference for that passage underneath the title of the blog: 

Coming Alive
Luke 7:11-15

Here it is:

Luke 7:11-15

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

 ¹¹ Soon afterward Jesus went with his disciples to the village of Nain, and a large crowd followed him. ¹² A funeral procession was coming out as he approached the village gate. The young man who had died was a widow’s only son, and a large crowd from the village was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, his heart overflowed with compassion. “Don’t cry!” he said. ¹⁴ Then he walked over to the coffin and touched it, and the bearers stopped. “Young man,” he said, “I tell you, get up.” ¹⁵ Then the dead boy sat up and began to talk! And Jesus gave him back to his mother.

What's so cool about this passage

(And what most of Louie Giglio's sermon was about)

Is how He brings us to life.

A mother's only son had died.

The funeral procession had started.

Jesus saw the mother crying,

"[H]is heart overflowed with compassion",

He walked up to the body,

The people carrying it stopped in their tracks,

He stood right next to the boy's remains,

(The unclean body that everyone else wanted to stay away from)

He stretched out His hand . . .

And the boy came to life!!!!!

The incredible thing is

Not only did Jesus stop that young boy's funeral procession,

He stops ours.

That amazes me -

That He would do that for someone like me,

Someone as messed-up as I am.

Somehow,

Even for me,

He stretches out His hand

And brings me to life.